Improvement in building-block machinery



AMON L. IINGH, OF SING SING, NEW-YORK.

Letters Patent No. 65,365, dated June l, 1867.

IMPROVEMENT IN BUILDING-BLOCK MACHINERY..

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IO ALL WIIOM I'I MAY CONGERN:

Be it known that I, AMON FrNCH, of Sing Sing, in the county of Westchester, and State ofNew York, have invented, made, and applied to use, a certain new and useful Improvement in Machinery for Manufacturing Building-Blocks; and I de hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the said invention, reference beinghad to the annexed drawing making part of this specification, whereini Figure I isla vertical section of the said machine, and

Figure 2 is an elevation at the back of the machine.

Similar marks of reference denote the same parts.

Building-blocks have heretoforebeen made of sand and lime, or similar materials mixed together and allowed to remain, and then pressed in a mould. The pressure has been obtained by the blow of a hammer, and the mould has been lined with plates of steel permanently secured into an opening in the bed forming such mould. The mechanism 'employed for giving motion to the hammer has been complicated and expensive, and the mould has been diifieult to keep in repair, because there was no Vopportunity for removing the steel lining plates and grinding and polishing them up true when worn.

The nature of my said invention consists in a detached metal frame lined with steel plates, secured in place by screws passing in from the outside of such frame so that the frame can be easily removed from the hed and the lining plates taken vout and ground and polished. I provide a slide that receives the material to be pressed and conveys it to the mould. At the same time said slide presses outvthe nished brick beneath a stationaryknifc that equalizes the thickness of the block, and said block is received upon a movable board so that it can be conveyed away from the machine, and all the motions are derived'from a main shaft through slides and cranks with connections to the respective parts.

In. the drawing, a is the foundation bed-piece; o Z1 are frames forming slides forthe compressing hammer c, shown in blue lines in iig. 2, that acts to compress the materialrinj the mould s, the hammer being raised bythe sectional gear c upon the shaft f, taking rack-tceth upon said hammer, and the interruption of the teeth in said gear allows the hammer to fall. I have shown three sections in the gear e, but they may be more or less in number, the other parts being in proportion so that the machine will be properly timed. The material is supplied with a hopper, g, and from that passes into a. hopper, 7L, over the slide z' and mould-bed 7c. The slide z' is moved by an arm, Z, shaft m, and crank n, acted upon by the verticalsliding-rod o and toe-piece o', to which moti-on is given first in one direction-by the cam p on the gearp, and then in the other direction by the cam q on the gear q', the gears pfand q gearing together and receiving their motion from the gear- Wheel 7' on the shaftf. The mould-bed k has a vertical motion, being guided in the frames b Z and by the anvil o", which also forms the bottom of the mould. This vertical movement is given at the proper time to force the brick out of the mould by lowering the mould, and the means employed to give such motion consists in the crank l, link 2, shaft ,3, crank 4, slide-red 5, toe 6, cams 7 and S, or the wheels 9 and 10, acted upon by the wheel 11 (all shown by red lines in iig. I) on the shaft f, similar to the gearing on the other side ofthe machine. The slide z' has an opening of the proper size to'receive from the hopper It the amount of material required for a block, and the movement of said slide conveys such material under the hammer a, the fall of which, once or more, compresses said material into the moulds, against the anvil 1. I prefer that the material bc cond solidated while in the slide z'v by one blow, and that then the mould and slide rise, and that two blows be given by the hammer while in the mould s. At the time the slide 2' is moved forward the bed 7c has been lowered so that the top of the anvil r and surface of the mould correspond, and the end of the slide z' is square and the exact thickness of the brick, so that the forward movement ofthe slide forces the block sidewise under the stationary gauge-knife t, removing any extra thickness of the brick or block, and delivering the same upon the board u that is placed upon supports v, with its surface coinciding with that of the mould s. This beard, with the block, is removed, and another placed in the machine. lhe mould s itself is formed of a metal frame placed in a cavity in the bed c, and said mould is lined with plates of steel, d, secured by screws passing through from the outside, and these plates are to be taken out and ground and polished as required from time to time. 'lhe mould-frame gives the facility for removing these parts, as the entire mould can be lifted out of the bed k by withdrawing the steady-pins y. After the grinding and polishing of these steel plates, thin filling plates of metal can be introduced behind the steel plates to maintain the regular size of the mould.

In order to stop the supply of the material from the hopper g to the hopper h while the block is being pressed, I employ a gate, z, connected by screws or links to the mould-bed 7c, that closes the mouth of the hopper g, or

partially so, when the bed k is lowered, and opens. the same when the bed c is' raised; and by adjusting the `position of this gate the supply can be regulated so that only the required amount for each block will pass into the hopper L.. The vertical sliding-rods o and 5 may receive their motion from cams or eccentrics actuated by the shaftinstead of being moved by the toes or cams represented.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is l 1'. Constructing the mould for building-blocks of a detached metal frame, with a lining of plates of steel held in place by sci'ews passing-in from the outside of said frame in the manner and for the purposes specified.

2. I claim the slide z' that removes the pressed block and brings the loose material into position for being pressed, in combination with the stationary knife for eqnalizing the thickness of the block, asespecified.

3. I claim a. movable board applied to the sidlof the mould frame, as specified, in combination withv the slider' and stationary knife, for the purposes and as set forth. l

4. I claim the arrangement of the slide-rods 5 and a, and cams p, q,- 7, and 8, for operating the feedingslide z' and giving a-vertical motion to the mould-bed, substantially as lset forth.

5. I claim connecting the gate of the feeding-hopper with the mould-bed by an adjustable connection so that the supply of material can be regulated and the gate' be opened by the motion of the mould, as specified.

6. I claim the shaft f and sectional gear c ,t'or raising the compressing hammerc,in combination with the mechanism moved by the same shaft, substantially as specified forgiving motion` to the feeding-slide and to the mould-bed k, as set forth.

In witness whereofvI have hereunto set my signature thisysixteenth day'of February, A. D. 1867.

' A. L. FINeH.

Witnesses:

CHAs. H. SMITH, Guo. DfWALnnli. 

